The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Inflatable safety restraint devices, or airbags can be found on most new vehicles. Airbags can typically include an inflator that can be connected to the one or more airbags positioned within the vehicle, and can rapidly produce a quantity of inflation fluid or gas that can fill the airbag(s) to protect the occupant(s).
For example, a vehicle can include an inflatable curtain airbag. The inflatable curtain airbag can be deployed from a headliner of the vehicle, and can inflate to protect the head of the occupant(s) from contact with the side of the vehicle, such as the windows. Certain inflatable curtain airbags, such as those designed to withstand mostly a lateral impact event, may utilize a “hot gas” inflator since cooling of the gas and the resulting loss of airbag pressure may not be an issue due to the short duration of the event. Other inflatable curtain airbags, such as those designed to withstand a rollover event can generally use “cold gas” inflators to meet the extended pressure requirements. As there is typically no heating of the gas in a “cold gas” inflator, these inflators can be heavy and very large to accommodate the volume of gas required to inflate the airbag. Accordingly, it may be desirable to provide a more compact inflator for a side curtain airbag.